Sanitary shelf



NOV. 6, 1934. T, POTTER r AL 1,979,902

sunny SHELF Filed Sept. 29, 1932 'INVENTORS J THOMHSI Parr-2:7?

k. /7x42 4. Caruso/v Patented Na. 6, 1934 1,979,903 smmnr SHELF Thomas I. Potter a d Axel E. Carlson; Buffalo, N. Y., assignors to 'lhomas I. Potter, Bnlfalo,

Application September 29, 1932, Serial No. 635,450

3 Claims. (o1. 211-153) Our invention relates to shelvesand' has for an object to provide a shelf which is particularly adapted forus'e where it is important that sanitary conditions be maintained at a high standard as, for example, in a refrigerator.

In order to facilitate cleansing as well as to present a sanitary appearance, refrigerators are now almost universally lined with porcelain, and, yet, the shelves of refrigerators are still made of wire in the form of screens or grids. The desirability of a porcelain shelf for refrigerators has long been recognized but hitherto it has been considered impossible to produce a satisfactoryrefrigerator shelf with a porcelain finish.

Obviously, it. would be very simple to produce a continuous smooth plate of porcelain coated steel but this would be entirely unsuitable for, use in a refrigerator. It is essential. to provide for a free circulation of air throughout the refrigerator enclosure so that the heat in various foods or other articles placed on the shelves will be carried off readily and be absorbed by the refrigerating element. Hence, the more porous the shelf the better.

The ordinary wire grid is ideal from the point of view of air circulation alone because it ofiers a minimum of contact with the articles supported thereby as well as a minimum of obstruction to air currents. However, the wire shelf possesses obvious defects. Not only does it offer a disagreeable contrast with the pure white walls surrounding it, but it is diilicultto keep it clean because of the joints and crevices in which dirt is bound to collect. Foods are sometimes laid directly on the shelf instead of being placed in containers and aside from unsanitary conditions resulting from contact with the metal, chemical reactions are apt to take place resulting in oxidation or rusting ofv the grid.

Efforts have been made to produce porcelain coated wire grids for use as refrigerator shelves. However, such efforts have not met with success because of the difliculty of covering the wire completely, particularly at the joints of the grid, and

also because of the tendency for the'porcelain coating to crack and chip off at the joints. Experhnents have also been made with plain sheets of porcelain coated metal having apertures beingweakened by the apertures is not enough to support the load it may have to carry, with the result that it flexes and warps, crack ing the porcelain coating. r a

It is an object of the present invention to provide a shelf which will embody the desirable 50 features pointed out above and which at the same time will overcome the defects which have hitherto been considered insuperable. f

A more specific object of our invention is to provide a shelf formed of porcelain coated sheet v metal with slots therethrough, the slots being provided with down-turned marginal flanges, which not only stifien the shelf, but also provide rounded surfaces from which the porcelain coatingwillnot draw. v

- Other objects and advantages of our invention will appear in the following description of a prefered embodiment and thereafter the novelty and scope of the invention will be pointed out in the claims.

' In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of our improved porcelain shelf;

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the shelf; and

Fig. 3 is a view in section on an enlarged taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Our improved shelf consists of a sheet metal stamping which is suitably coated with porce-= lain. The shelf as a whole is indicated by the reference numeral 10 in the drawing. The body of the shelf is provided'on allsides with downturned border flanges 11. These flanges are bent inward at their free edges, as indicated at- 13. Slots 14 are stamped in the body of the metal sheet and these slots are provided with downturned marginal flanges 15. It is desirable to avoid sharp corners so as to prevent the porcelain coating from drawing away at the corners and for this reason rounded corners 16 are provided at the junctions of the flanges 15 with the body of the shelf. The corners at thejunctions of the border flanges 11 with the body of the shelf are also preferably rounded.

It will be observed that the slots 14- are ar- 109 ranged in longitudinal rows leaving longitudinal lands 1'? extending from end to end of the shelf. The lands 1'? are connected by transverse lands 18 disposed between the slots of each row. The slots in each row are preferably staggered with respect to those of the next adjacent row.

After the shelf has been'stamped to the form so far described, it is treated with a base coat of enamel or porcelain 19 which is preferably of dark color and then a white porcelain coat 20 110 a portion of scale the shelf.

.tirely obviated. At

is applied on'the upper surface of the shelf. This coating is carried down through the slots to cover the inner faces of the flanges 15. Any tendency for the white porcelain to draw away from the edges of the flanges is concealed by the fact that these edges are turned downward and. are depressed well The in-turned edges of the border flanges similarly conceal any defect of coverage by the base coating. 7 V It will be noted that the shelf is virtually composed of a series of longitudinally'disposed in verted channel beams which are integrally con-.

nected by the transverse lands 13 and that they provide very rigid structure which cannot flex or warp under any loads that are likely to be placed uponit, hence there is no danger-of cracking the porcelain coating of the shelf.

Another advantage of our improved shelf is the fact that the lands provide flat surfaces which afforda better support for articles that are placed on the shelf. With the ordinary open wire grid, it frequently happens that small bottles and other articles which do not span two wires will. tip because of the curvature of the wire surfaces. With our improved shelf this condition is almost enthe same time adequate openings are provided in the shelf for the free circulation of air.

I Having thus described, our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

- stamped below the upper surface of.

with the body, the body being also formed with down-turned border flanges, a base coating of porcelain covering the body and said peripheral and border flanges, and a finish coating of white porcelain-covering the upper surface of the body, said finish coating extending into the slots and covering the inner faces of said peripheral flanges. v y

2. A sanitary shelf for refrigerators and the like, comprising a body of sheet metal with slots stamped therethrough each slot being completely bounded by a continuous down-turned peripheral; flange; struck from the body and with a rounded corner at the junction of each flange with the body, said body being also formed with down-turned border flanges bent inward at their free edges, a base coating of porcelain covering the body and said peripheral and border flanges and a finish coating of white porcelain covering the upper surface of the body, .said finish coating extendinginto the slots, and covering the inner faces of said peripheral flanges.

3. A sanitary shelf for refrigerators and 'the like comprising a sheetv of metal formed with rows of elongated slots, each slot being bounded by a continuous downturned marginal flange, said rows and the elongation of the slots extending lengthwise of the shelf and sub-dividing the surface of the shelf into longitudinal and transverse lanes, the slots of one row being staggered with respect to those of the next adjacent row and interrupting the continuity of the transverse lanes whereby said flanges will reinforce the shelf against flexurealong such transverse lanes. i l I THOMAS I'. POTTER.

AXEL E. CARLSON, 

